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Language Use in the United States:
2007
Issued April 2010
American Community Survey Reports
ACS-12
INTRODUCTION
This report provides information on the number and
characteristics of people
in the United States in
2007 who spoke a language other than English
at home. While the vast
majority of the population 5 years old and over
in the United States spoke
only English at home (80
percent), the population
speaking a language other
than English at home has
increased steadily for
the last three decades.
The number of speakers
increased for many nonEnglish languages, but not
all. This changing landscape of speakers of nonEnglish languages in the
United States is highlighted
in this report.
Figure 1.
Reproduction of the Questions on
Language From the 2007 American
Community Survey
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
Data from the 2007 American
Community Survey (ACS) are used
to describe the language use of the
U.S. population aged 5 and over.
Responses to language and Englishspeaking ability questions that were
historically collected once every 10
years in the decennial census are now
captured every year in the ACS. As
Appendix A (at the end of this report)
shows, questions about language have
varied greatly over time. Since the
1980 decennial census, however, the
same series of three questions has
been used in U.S. Census Bureau data
collections (see Figure 1). The first
question pertains to everyone 5 years
old and over. It asks if the person
speaks a language other than English
at home. A person who responds “yes”
to this question is then asked to report
the language. The Census Bureau
codes these responses into 381 detailed
languages. The third question asks
“how well” that person speaks English,
with answer categories of “very well,”
“well,” “not well,” and “not at all.”
Data on speakers of languages other
than English and on their Englishspeaking ability provide more than
USCENSUSBUREAU
Helping You Make Informed Decisions
U.S. Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
U.S. CENSUS BUREAU
By
Hyon B. Shin
and
Robert A. Kominski
Table 1.
Population 5 Years and Older Who Spoke a Language Other Than English at Home by
Language Group and English-Speaking Ability: 2007
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
English-speaking ability
Characteristic
Total people
Very well
Well
Not well
Not at all
NUMBER
Population 5 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke only English at home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke a language other than English at home . . . . . . . . . .
280,950,438
225,505,953
55,444,485
(X)
(X)
30,975,474
(X)
(X)
10,962,722
(X)
(X)
9,011,298
(X)
(X)
4,494,991
Spoke a language other than English at home. . . . . . . .
Spanish or Spanish Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Indo-European languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asian and Pacific Island languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
55,444,485
34,547,077
10,320,730
8,316,426
2,260,252
30,975,474
18,179,530
6,936,808
4,274,794
1,584,342
10,962,722
6,322,170
2,018,148
2,176,180
446,224
9,011,298
6,344,110
1,072,025
1,412,264
182,899
4,494,991
3,701,267
293,749
453,188
46,787
PERCENT
Population 5 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke only English at home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke a language other than English at home . . . . . . . . . .
100.0
80.3
19.7
(X)
(X)
55.9
(X)
(X)
19.8
(X)
(X)
16.3
(X)
(X)
8.1
Spoke a language other than English at home. . . . . . . .
Spanish or Spanish Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Indo-European languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asian and Pacific Island languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
100.0
62.3
18.6
15.0
4.1
55.9
52.6
67.2
51.4
70.1
19.8
18.3
19.6
26.2
19.7
16.3
18.4
10.4
17.0
8.1
8.1
10.7
2.8
5.4
2.1
(X) Not applicable.
Note: Margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table 1 at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language
/appendix.html>. For more information on the ACS, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
Four Major Language Groups
Spanish includes Spanish, Spanish Creole, and Ladino.
Other Indo-European languages include most languages of Europe and the Indic languages of
India. These include the Germanic languages, such as German, Yiddish, and Dutch; the Scandinavian
languages, such as Swedish and Norwegian; the Romance languages, such as French, Italian, and
Portuguese; the Slavic languages, such as Russian, Polish, and Serbo-Croatian; the Indic languages, such
as Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Urdu; Celtic languages; Greek; Baltic languages; and Iranian languages.
Asian and Pacific Island languages include Chinese; Korean; Japanese; Vietnamese; Hmong; Khmer;
Lao; Thai; Tagalog or Pilipino; the Dravidian languages of India, such as Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam;
and other languages of Asia and the Pacific, including the Philippine, Polynesian, and Micronesian
languages.
All Other languages include Uralic languages, such as Hungarian; the Semitic languages, such as
Arabic and Hebrew; languages of Africa; native North American languages, including the American
Indian and Alaska native languages; and indigenous languages of Central and South America.
2
U.S. Census Bureau
just an interesting portrait of a
changing nation. Routinely, these
data are used in a wide variety of
legislative, policy, and research
applications. Legal, financial, and
marketing decisions regarding
language-based issues all rely on
information that begins with data
on non-English language use and
English-speaking ability.1
Table 1 provides some basic
information from the 2007 ACS
about speakers of non-English
languages and their Englishspeaking ability. Of 281.0 million
people aged 5 and over, 55.4
million people (20 percent of this
population) spoke a language other
than English at home. While the
Census Bureau codes 381 detailed
languages, data tabulations are
not generally available for all of
these detailed groups. Instead, the
Census Bureau collapses languages
into smaller sets of “language
groups.” The simplest collapse
uses four major groups: Spanish;
Other Indo-European languages;
Asian and Pacific Island languages;
and All Other languages. These
four groups are further explained in
the text box.
Of the 55.4 million people who
spoke a language other than
English at home, 62 percent
spoke Spanish (34.5 million
speakers), 19 percent spoke an
Other Indo-European language
(10.3 million speakers), 15 percent
spoke an Asian and Pacific Island
language (8.3 million speakers),
and 4 percent spoke an Other
language (2.3 million speakers).
The majority of speakers across
all four of these major language
groups reported speaking English
1
Self-reported data on English-speaking
ability have demonstrated the measure to be
highly reliable and usable. See “How Good
Is How Well? An Examination of the Census
English-Speaking Ability Question,” <http://
www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo
/lang_use.html>.
U.S. Census Bureau
“very well.” The percentage of
these groups reporting an Englishspeaking ability of “very well”
ranged from around 50 percent of
Asian and Pacific Island language
speakers to 70 percent of speakers
in the Other language group.
People speaking at a level below
the “very well” category are thought
to need English assistance in some
situations.2 Around 24.5 million
people reported their Englishspeaking ability as something
below “very well” (that is, “well,”
“not well,” or “not at all”). Higher
percentages of people needing
English assistance were present for
speakers of Spanish (47 percent)
and Asian and Pacific Island
languages (49 percent) than among
Other Indo-European languages
(33 percent) or Other languages
(30 percent).
FINDINGS
Characteristics of People
Speaking a Language Other
Than English at Home
While the majority of people spoke
only English at home, important
differences exist across some
social characteristics. Figures 2a
to 2c show the number of people
speaking a language other than
English at home for the four major
language groups by Englishspeaking ability by age, nativity,
and educational attainment.
Figure 2a shows that the group
aged 41 to 64 had the largest
number of English-only speakers
(78.3 million), compared to 42.3
million speakers aged 5 to 17,
72.4 million speakers aged 18 to
40, and 32.6 million speakers aged
65 and over. Conversely, foreignlanguage speakers numbered 10.9
million (21 percent) among 5 to 17
year olds, 23.1 million (24 percent)
2
For example, the Voting Rights Act of
1965 uses these criteria to determine the
need for bilingual election materials.
among 18 to 40 year olds, 16.1
million (17 percent) among 41
to 64 year olds, and 5.3 million
(14 percent) among older people.
Across the four major language
groups, a disproportionately large
number and proportion of all
people who spoke a language other
than English at home were those
aged 18 to 40 who spoke Spanish.
Among all 55.4 million speakers of
non-English languages, 15.3 million
(28 percent) met this description.
About half of speakers of nonEnglish languages also reported
that they did not speak English
“very well.” The proportion of
older Spanish speakers who
reported lower levels of Englishspeaking ability, however, was even
higher—57 percent of people 41
to 64 years old and 65 percent of
Spanish speakers 65 years old and
over reported their English-speaking
ability as less than “very well.”
Figure 2b focuses on the nativeborn and foreign-born status of
individuals. This figure shows that
among Spanish speakers, nearly as
many were native born as foreign
born (17.0 million compared to 17.5
million). This is not the case for the
other three language groups—all
three had more foreign born.
Spanish speakers who were foreign
born were more likely to speak
English less than “very well” than
native-born Spanish speakers
(73 percent compared to 21
percent). Among the remaining
three groups, the foreign-born
Asian and Pacific Island language
group was the only one where
those speaking English less than
“very well” outnumbered those
speaking “very well.”
Of those speakers of a non-English
language who were foreign-born,
12.6 million were citizens and
19.3 million were noncitizens.
3
Figure 2a.
Major Language Groups and English-Speaking Ability by Age: 2007
(Population 5 years and older, in millions. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error,
and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
English only
42.3
Less than
“Very well” “very well”
5.8
2.1 7.9
1.24 0.3 1.5
0.9 0.3 1.2
0.3 0.1 0.4
5 to 17
years
Spanish
Other Indo-European languages
Asian and Pacific Island languages
All Other languages
72.4
7.7
7.7
15.3
2.7 1.0 3.6
2.0 1.3 3.2
0.7 0.3 1.0
18 to 40
years
78.3
3.9 5.1 9.0
41 to 64
2.1 1.3 3.4
years
1.2 1.8 3.0
0.5 0.2 0.7
32.6
0.8 1.5 2.3
1.0 0.8 1.8
0.3 0.7 0.9
0.1 0.1 0.2
65 years
and older
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
Figure 2b.
Major Language Groups and English-Speaking Ability by Nativity and Citizenship: 2007
(Population 5 years and older, in millions. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error,
and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
13.4
Native
born
Less than
“Very well” “very well”
3.6 17.0
3.3 0.6 3.9
1.4 0.3 1.7
0.7 0.1 0.9
Spanish
Other Indo-European languages
Asian and Pacific Island languages
Naturalized citizen
4.7
Foreign 3.6
born
12.8
17.5
All Other languages
2.1 2.7 4.9
2.0 1.4 3.4
1.7 1.9 3.6
0.5 0.2 0.7
2.8 6.4
2.9 3.7 6.6
0.8 0.5 1.4
Not a citizen
2.6 10.0 12.6
1.6 1.4 3.0
1.1 1.8 2.9
0.4 0.3 0.7
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
4
U.S. Census Bureau
Figure 2c.
Major Language Groups and English-Speaking
Ability by Educational Attainment: 2007
(Population 25 years and older, in millions. For information on confidentiality
protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions,
see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
Less than
“Very well” “very well”
1.9 7.3 9.2
Less than
12th grade
0.54 0.8 1.4
Spanish
0.1 0.9 1.1
Other Indo-European languages
0.1 0.2 0.3
Asian and Pacific Island languages
All Other languages
2.8 3.2 6.0
High school
graduate
72.4
1.0 0.8 1.8
0.3 0.9 1.2
0.2 0.2 0.4
Some
college, or
associate’s
degree
2.8 1.3
4.1
78.3
1.1 0.5 1.6
0.6 0.6 1.2
0.3 0.1 0.4
2.1 0.9 3.0
Bachelor’s
degree
or more
2.4 0.8 3.1
1.8 1.1 2.9
0.4 0.1 0.5
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
Foreign-born Spanish speakers
were more likely to be noncitizens
than any of the three other groups
(72 percent compared to 46
percent of Other Indo-European
speakers, 45 percent of Asian and
Pacific Island speakers, and 51
percent of All Other speakers).
In addition, a much larger number
and proportion of foreign-born
Spanish speakers who were not
citizens reported speaking English
less than “very well” (79 percent),
more than any other language
group, whether citizen or not.
Figure 2c shows the four major
language groups and the Englishspeaking ability of their members
by four levels of educational
attainment for the population
25 years old and over: less than a
U.S. Census Bureau
with limited English-speaking ability
than for those who reported speaking English “very well.” In addition,
individuals who were high school
graduates and also spoke Asian
and Pacific Island languages had a
higher proportion speaking English
less than “very well.”3
12th grade education, high school
graduate, some college experience,
and a bachelor’s degree or more.
Most Spanish speakers 25 years
old and over had not completed
high school (41 percent)—a larger
percentage than for the other three
major language groups (15 percent
for Other Indo-European language
and 17 percent for both Asian and
Pacific Island language speakers
and for Other language speakers).
Conversely, while the college
completion level (bachelor’s degree
or more) for the three non-Spanish
language groups ranged from 34
to 45 percent, only 14 percent of
the Spanish-speaking population
attained this level of education.
For all four language groups, those
who had not completed high school
had larger proportions of speakers
Languages Spoken in the
United States: A Historical Look
As Appendix A shows, census
questions about language have
varied over the years. In some
censuses, questions were asked
of “mother tongue” (the language
spoken in the household when the
respondent was growing up) or
were asked only of the foreign-born
population. Since the 1980 census,
however, the same three questions
have been asked of everyone aged
5 and over in the household.
Table 2 provides a detailed list of
17 different languages spoken in
the home for the period 1980 to
2007.4 This list provides data for
only those languages that were
available in all four time periods.
Table 2 shows the growth of some
languages since 1980 as well
as the real and relative decline
of others. In 1980, 23.1 million
3
For people 25 years old and over who
were not high school graduates, those who
spoke Other Indo-European languages “very
well” (38.9 percent) was not statistically
different from those who spoke All Other
languages “very well” (37.6 percent). Reciprocally, those who spoke less than “very well”
for both languages were not statistically different from each other (61.1 percent and 62.4
percent, respectively).
4
Data from 1980, 1990, and 2000 are
from decennial censuses, whereas the data
from 2007 come from the 2007 American
Community Survey. For more information
about language use and English-speaking
ability differences between the census and
the American Community Survey, read
“Comparison of the Estimates on Language
Use and English-Speaking Ability from the
ACS, the C2SS, and Census 2000 (Report).”
This report can be accessed at <http://
www.census.gov/acs/www/Downloads
/Language_Comparison_Report_2008-03
.doc>. Corresponding tables are accessible at
<http://www.census.gov/acs/www
/Downloads/Language_Comparison
_Tables_2008-03.xls>.
5
Table 2.
Languages Spoken at Home: 1980, 1990, 2000, and 2007
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
1980
1990
2000
2007
Percentage
change
1980–2007
Population 5 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke only English at home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke a language other than English at home1 . . . . . .
210,247,455
187,187,415
23,060,040
230,445,777
198,600,798
31,844,979
262,375,152
215,423,557
46,951,595
280,950,438
225,505,953
55,444,485
33.6
20.5
140.4
Spoke a language other than English at home2 . . . .
Spanish or Spanish Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
French (incl. Patois, Cajun, Creole) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Portuguese or Portuguese Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yiddish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Russian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Polish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Serbo-Croatian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Armenian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Persian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Korean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vietnamese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tagalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
23,060,040
11,116,194
1,550,751
1,618,344
351,875
1,586,593
315,953
401,443
173,226
820,647
150,255
100,634
106,992
630,806
336,318
266,280
197,588
474,150
31,844,979
17,345,064
1,930,404
1,308,648
430,610
1,547,987
213,064
388,260
241,798
723,483
70,964
149,694
201,865
1,319,462
427,657
626,478
507,069
843,251
46,951,595
28,101,052
2,097,206
1,008,370
564,630
1,383,442
178,945
365,436
706,242
667,414
233,865
202,708
312,085
2,022,143
477,997
894,063
1,009,627
1,224,241
55,444,485
34,547,077
1,984,824
798,801
687,126
1,104,354
158,991
329,825
851,174
638,059
276,550
221,865
349,686
2,464,572
458,717
1,062,337
1,207,004
1,480,429
140.4
210.8
28.0
–50.6
95.3
–30.4
–49.7
–17.8
391.4
–22.2
84.1
120.5
226.8
290.7
36.4
299.0
510.9
212.2
Characteristic
1
The languages highlighted in this table are the languages for which data were available for the four time periods: 1980, 1990, 2000, and
2007.
2
The total does not match the sum of the 17 languages listed in this table because the total includes all the other languages that are not highlighted here.
Note: Margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table 2 at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language
/appendix.html>. For more information on the ACS, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1980 and 1990 Census, Census 2000, and 2007 American Community Survey.
people spoke a language other
than English at home, compared
to 55.4 million people in 2007
(a 140 percent increase, during
which the U.S. population grew
34 percent). The largest numeric
increase was for Spanish speakers
(23.4 million more in 2007 than in
1980). Vietnamese speakers had
the largest percentage increase
(511 percent). Eight languages
more than doubled during the
period, including four that had
fewer than 200,000 speakers in
1980: Russian, Persian, Armenian,
and Vietnamese.
Some languages declined since
1980. Italian, the second-most
frequently spoken non-English
language in 1980 (after Spanish),
had a net decline of about 800,000
6
speakers (50 percent decline). It is
now the ninth-ranked language
on the list of languages other
than English spoken at home.
Other languages, such as Polish,
Yiddish, and Greek, also had large
proportionate decreases. While
increased immigration led to
gains for some language groups,
other groups experienced aging
populations and dwindling migrant
flows into the United States.
Languages Spoken in the
United States
Most of the detailed language
information the Census Bureau
provides uses a list of 39 individual
languages and language groups.
These 39 languages and the
respective English-speaking ability
of their speakers are detailed
in Table 3. In 2007, seven of
these languages had more than
a million speakers. With 34.5
million speakers, Spanish was by
far the most commonly spoken
non-English language. Chinese
was the only other detailed
language with at least 2 million
speakers. Even at this detailed
level, however, there were still five
other specific languages with over
a million speakers: French, Tagalog,
Vietnamese, German, and Korean.
The English-speaking ability of the
speakers of these specific language
groups varied greatly; in some
cases, certain groups reported
speakers with higher levels of
English-speaking ability, while other
groups had speakers who were less
adept with English. Some groups,
U.S. Census Bureau
Table 3.
Detailed Languages Spoken at Home by English-Speaking Ability for the Population
5 Years and Older: 2007
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
Number of
speakers
Percentage
of speakers
of a nonEnglish
language
Very well
Well
Not well
Not at all
Population 5 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke only English at home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Spoke a language other than English at home . . . . . .
280,950,438
225,505,953
55,444,485
(X)
(X)
100.0
(X)
(X)
55.9
(X)
(X)
19.8
(X)
(X)
16.3
(X)
(X)
8.1
Spoke a language other than English at home. . . .
55,444,485
100.0
55.9
19.8
16.3
8.1
Spanish or Spanish Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34,547,077
62.3
52.6
18.3
18.4
10.7
Other Indo-European languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
French . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
French Creole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Italian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Portuguese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
German . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yiddish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other West Germanic languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scandinavian languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Greek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Russian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Polish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Serbo-Croatian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Slavic languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Armenian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Persian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Gujarati . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hindi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Urdu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Indic languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Indo-European languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10,320,730
1,355,805
629,019
798,801
687,126
1,104,354
158,991
270,178
134,925
329,825
851,174
638,059
276,550
312,109
221,865
349,686
287,367
532,911
344,942
616,147
420,896
18.6
2.5
1.1
1.4
1.2
2.0
0.3
0.5
0.2
0.6
1.5
1.2
0.5
0.6
0.4
0.6
0.5
1.0
0.6
1.1
0.8
67.2
78.2
56.7
71.8
56.6
82.8
70.3
76.2
86.4
73.0
49.8
56.8
58.4
61.6
55.1
61.7
64.1
79.6
70.1
61.4
62.5
19.6
14.5
24.3
17.2
22.0
12.6
18.3
19.7
11.3
16.5
25.2
24.0
24.4
23.0
21.7
22.6
21.5
15.3
19.1
24.4
22.9
10.4
6.8
14.8
9.6
14.9
4.4
9.5
3.4
2.2
9.6
18.2
15.2
14.3
12.5
14.9
12.4
10.6
4.0
8.3
10.2
11.5
2.8
0.4
4.3
1.4
6.4
0.3
1.9
0.7
0.1
1.0
6.7
4.1
2.9
2.9
8.2
3.3
3.9
1.1
2.4
4.0
3.2
Asian and Pacific Island languages. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chinese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Japanese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Korean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mon-Khmer, Cambodian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hmong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Laotian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vietnamese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Asian languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tagalog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Pacific Island languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8,325,886
2,464,572
458,717
1,062,337
185,056
181,069
144,405
149,045
1,207,004
634,608
1,480,429
358,644
15.0
4.5
0.8
1.9
0.3
0.3
0.3
0.3
2.2
1.1
2.7
0.7
51.4
44.4
53.8
41.8
46.3
52.9
48.4
51.1
39.3
70.1
69.0
63.1
26.2
25.7
29.1
29.3
25.6
24.1
34.8
23.5
29.0
20.2
23.8
26.0
17.0
19.6
15.7
24.2
21.4
15.5
14.7
19.9
25.2
7.5
6.5
10.0
5.4
10.3
1.4
4.7
6.7
7.4
2.1
5.4
6.5
2.2
0.6
0.8
Other languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Navajo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other Native American languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hungarian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arabic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hebrew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
African languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
All other languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2,250,792
170,717
200,560
91,297
767,319
213,576
699,518
107,805
4.1
0.3
0.4
0.2
1.4
0.4
1.3
0.2
70.1
75.3
86.4
71.6
66.2
81.6
66.2
62.3
19.7
14.4
10.0
20.0
22.1
14.7
22.6
19.0
8.1
7.3
3.2
7.3
9.7
3.1
8.8
11.6
2.1
2.9
0.4
1.0
2.0
0.5
2.3
7.0
Characteristic
English-speaking ability
(X) Not applicable.
Note: Margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table 3B at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language
/appendix.html>. For more information on the ACS, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
U.S. Census Bureau
7
such as Spanish, Russian, Chinese,
and Vietnamese, showed higher
proportions of those speaking
English less than “very well” while
other languages, such as French,
German, Scandinavian, and Hebrew,
reported higher than average levels
of speaking English “very well.”
As the number of languages spoken rises and falls over time, to
some degree these patterns reflect
historical immigration and settlement patterns, along with other
unique situations. For example,
English is routinely taught in
Scandinavian schools, and many
speakers of Native American languages were born and raised in
the United States and have routinely interacted with English their
entire lives. Nevertheless, Table 3
demonstrates that English-speaking
ability varied widely across different language communities.
Language Concentration in
States
Languages spoken at home are
not evenly distributed throughout
the nation. Some areas have
high percentages of speakers
of non-English languages, while
others have lower levels. Table 4
shows the proportion of people
who spoke a language other than
English at home across the 50
states and the District of Columbia,
as well as the English-speaking
ability levels in those states.
As can be seen in Table 4 and
Figure 3, the percentage of people
who spoke a language other than
English at home varied substantially
across states; just 2 percent of
West Virginians 5 years old and
over reported speaking a language
other than English at home, while
43 percent of people in California
reported the same. Moreover,
Figure 3 shows that relatively high
levels of other language speakers
were common in the Southwest and
in the larger immigrant gateway
states of the East, such as New York,
8
New Jersey, and Florida. With the
exception of Illinois, relatively lower
levels of foreign-language speakers
prevail in most of the Midwest and
in the South.
Vietnamese, and Tagalog.7 The
intervals shown on each map are
determined by dividing the range
of values for each language into
four equal intervals.
Similarly, levels of English-speaking
ability were also different across
states. Figure 4 shows the
percentage of foreign-language
speakers who reported their
English-speaking ability was less
than “very well.” In Montana, a
relatively small percentage of
foreign-language speakers (19
percent) reported having difficulty
speaking English. In Arkansas,
however, about half of all people
speaking another language at home
(51 percent) reported they had
trouble with English.
For Spanish speakers, three
states (Texas, California, and
New Mexico)8 were in the highest
interval, but the southwest
corridor of the United States also
had a sizable percentage of the
population speaking Spanish (see
Figure 5a). Louisiana and Maine
had the highest percentage of
French speakers, but Florida and
many states in the Northeast had a
substantial percentage as well. The
presence of French Creole speakers
in Louisiana and of Haitian Creole
speakers in Florida contributed to
the higher levels of French speakers
in these states (see Figure 5b).
Quite often, concentrations of specific language groups were found
in certain areas of the country. In
the short term, the factors creating
these concentrations include points
of entry into the United States
and family connections facilitating chain migration (Palloni, et al.
2003).5 In the longer term, internal
migration streams, employment
opportunities, and other family
situations help to facilitate the diffusion of language groups within
the country.
Figures 5a to 5h are a series of
maps that show the geographic
distribution of the most commonly
spoken languages in the United
States.6 These maps show the
percentage of people 5 years
old and over in each state who
spoke Spanish, French, German,
Slavic languages, Korean, Chinese,
5
Palloni, A.; D.S. Massey; M. Ceballos;
K. Espinosa; and M. Spittel. 2001. “Social
Capital and International Migration: A Test
Using Information on Family Networks.”
American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 106,
No. 5: 1262–1298.
6
Figures 5a to 5h illustrate the proportions of these languages by state, but many
of the percentage of speakers in each state
are relatively small comparable to the total
population of the state. The percentages for
these maps can be found in Appendix Table A
at <www.census.gov/population/www
/socdemo/language/appendix.html>.
Figure 5c shows German speakers
spanning the Canadian border of
the United States, with the highest
percentages in the Dakotas.9
Pennsylvania had a sizable number
of speakers of Pennsylvania
Dutch, which is a West Germanic
language. Indiana, with a relatively
large number of people of
German ancestry, also had a high
percentage of German speakers.10
Slavic languages, which include
Russian, Polish, and Serbo-Croatian,
had the highest percentage of
speakers in Illinois, New York,
New Jersey, and Connecticut.11
A substantial level of Slavic
7
French includes French Creole; German
includes other West Germanic languages;
and Slavic languages include Russian, Polish,
Serbo-Croatian, and other Slavic languages.
8
The percentage of Spanish speakers
living in California (28.5 percent) was not
statistically different from the percentage
of Spanish speakers living in New Mexico
(28.2 percent).
9
The percentages of German speakers
living in North Dakota (1.8 percent) and in
South Dakota (1.5 percent) were not statistically different from each other.
10
For more information on ancestry, visit
the Ancestry Web site at <www.census.gov
/population/www/ancestry/index.html>.
11
The percentage of Slavic speakers living
in New Jersey (1.8 percent) was not statistically different from the percentage of Slavic
speakers living in Connecticut (1.7 percent).
U.S. Census Bureau
Table 4.
Population 5 Years and Older Speaking a Language Other Than English at Home by
English-Speaking Ability by State: 2007
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
State
United States . . . . .
Percent who
Spoke a language spoke a language
Population 5 years other than English other than English
and older
at home
at home
280,950,438
55,444,485
19.7
English-speaking ability
Very well
55.9
Well
19.8
Not well
16.3
Not at all
8.1
Alabama . . . . . . . . . . .
Alaska . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . .
Arkansas . . . . . . . . . . .
California . . . . . . . . . . .
Colorado . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecticut . . . . . . . . .
Delaware . . . . . . . . . . .
District of Columbia . . .
4,318,848
632,806
5,839,788
2,637,847
33,891,325
4,512,195
3,290,325
805,602
551,980
183,831
100,508
1,662,549
167,962
14,441,651
755,749
639,586
96,929
80,195
4.3
15.9
28.5
6.4
42.6
16.7
19.4
12.0
14.5
53.6
60.6
55.8
48.8
53.2
55.3
60.5
62.7
68.6
16.6
25.7
17.7
21.2
19.8
19.0
21.0
17.6
15.8
20.4
11.7
15.5
20.7
17.2
17.9
13.7
15.5
11.4
9.3
2.0
11.0
9.2
9.8
7.8
4.8
4.3
4.2
Florida . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Georgia . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Illinois. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Iowa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kansas. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kentucky . . . . . . . . . . .
Louisiana . . . . . . . . . . .
Maine . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17,105,241
8,818,349
1,195,661
1,382,539
11,961,769
5,903,675
2,790,906
2,580,638
3,963,318
3,996,750
1,247,427
4,465,787
1,056,615
305,212
135,893
2,603,244
437,434
183,743
256,109
164,024
328,041
92,291
26.1
12.0
25.5
9.8
21.8
7.4
6.6
9.9
4.1
8.2
7.4
54.1
51.9
57.1
59.5
54.8
60.0
59.8
56.1
55.3
68.2
74.8
19.8
21.1
25.8
17.5
21.5
19.9
19.9
18.6
21.1
17.4
16.5
16.5
18.9
14.7
17.0
17.1
14.5
15.4
18.1
18.4
10.9
7.3
9.5
8.1
2.3
6.0
6.6
5.6
5.0
7.2
5.1
3.5
1.4
Maryland . . . . . . . . . . .
Massachusetts. . . . . . .
Michigan . . . . . . . . . . .
Minnesota . . . . . . . . . .
Mississippi . . . . . . . . . .
Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . .
Montana. . . . . . . . . . . .
Nebraska . . . . . . . . . . .
Nevada . . . . . . . . . . . .
New Hampshire . . . . . .
5,243,703
6,072,036
9,435,733
4,844,316
2,705,640
5,484,696
898,614
1,645,880
2,371,632
1,240,806
775,267
1,228,856
850,865
464,630
91,779
316,838
37,055
148,297
650,338
98,008
14.8
20.2
9.0
9.6
3.4
5.8
4.1
9.0
27.4
7.9
59.5
57.3
62.0
58.2
59.0
61.0
80.9
57.0
52.9
69.8
21.1
21.5
19.9
20.9
16.0
20.2
12.6
19.8
23.0
18.5
14.6
14.5
13.6
15.3
15.8
14.1
5.4
15.6
16.6
10.7
4.9
6.7
4.5
5.7
9.2
4.7
1.0
7.6
7.5
1.0
New Jersey . . . . . . . . .
New Mexico . . . . . . . . .
New York . . . . . . . . . . .
North Carolina . . . . . . .
North Dakota . . . . . . . .
Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Oklahoma . . . . . . . . . .
Oregon. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Pennsylvania . . . . . . . .
Rhode Island . . . . . . . .
8,130,371
1,828,867
18,097,578
8,429,207
599,205
10,727,127
3,357,386
3,511,093
11,703,178
996,158
2,262,008
652,880
5,229,102
814,645
35,387
646,477
276,163
504,621
1,107,017
207,071
27.8
35.7
28.9
9.7
5.9
6.0
8.2
14.4
9.5
20.8
58.2
72.9
54.3
51.8
73.5
64.7
54.8
53.4
62.1
56.2
20.5
14.0
20.9
19.2
15.7
20.3
19.4
19.1
20.1
18.9
15.5
8.6
17.4
20.3
9.4
11.8
18.7
18.7
13.8
16.6
5.8
4.5
7.4
8.7
1.3
3.2
7.1
8.8
4.0
8.3
South Carolina . . . . . . .
South Dakota . . . . . . . .
Tennessee . . . . . . . . . .
Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Vermont . . . . . . . . . . . .
Virginia. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Washington . . . . . . . . .
West Virginia . . . . . . . .
Wisconsin . . . . . . . . . .
Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . .
4,113,842
740,248
5,750,581
21,924,924
2,392,633
588,849
7,201,765
6,046,464
1,707,922
5,245,596
487,399
241,144
46,384
335,560
7,437,834
331,682
30,174
956,248
1,012,440
39,153
428,790
30,419
5.9
6.3
5.8
33.9
13.9
5.1
13.3
16.7
2.3
8.2
6.2
54.5
75.9
54.6
56.6
57.0
76.5
59.7
54.0
69.2
60.7
68.1
20.8
14.6
20.6
17.6
19.1
14.8
20.8
22.5
15.8
19.5
16.0
17.8
7.6
18.0
15.6
16.4
6.5
14.7
16.5
13.5
15.1
10.9
6.9
1.8
6.9
10.1
7.5
2.1
4.8
7.1
1.6
4.7
5.0
Note: Margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table 4B at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language
/appendix.html>. For more information on the ACS, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
U.S. Census Bureau
9
Figure 3.
AK
Percentage of the Population Who Spoke a Language Other Than
English at Home by State: 2007
WA
MT
VT
ND
ME
NH
MN
OR
ID
MI
NV
RI
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
WV
KS
CT
PA
IA
NE
CA
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
MO
VA
KY
DE
MD
DC
NC
AZ
TN
OK
NM
AR
SC
MS
AL
Less than 10.0 percent (28 states)
GA
10.0 to 19.9 percent (11 states)
TX
LA
20.0 to 29.9 percent (9 states)
FL
30.0 percent and higher (3 states)
United States: 19.7 percent
HI
Note: Population 5 years and older. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error,
nonsampling error, and definitions, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
speakers also was found in the
West Coast states (see Figure 5d).
Figure 5e shows Hawaii having
the highest concentration of
Korean speakers, followed
by California and New Jersey.
California and New York housed
the highest percentage of Chinese
speakers, followed by Hawaii and
Massachusetts (see Figure 5f).
As with Korean speakers, higher
levels of Vietnamese speakers
were evident throughout the
country rather than a large
concentration among contiguous
states. California had the highest
percentage of Vietnamese
speakers, followed by Hawaii,
Washington, and Texas12 (see
Figure 5g). Tagalog, a language
of the Philippines, had its highest
percentage of speakers in Hawaii.
12
The percentages of Vietnamese speakers in Hawaii (0.9 percent), Washington
(0.9 percent), and Texas (0.7 percent) were
not statistically different from one another.
10
Alaska, California, and Nevada also
had high levels, but not as high as
Hawaii.13
Language Concentration
in Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Areas
Just as languages were dispersed
unevenly across states,
metropolitan and micropolitan
statistical areas also displayed
similar effects. Large metro areas
such as New York, Los Angeles,
and Chicago generally had large
proportions of foreign-language
speakers because of the economic
opportunities in these places or
because they act as gateway points
of entry into the country. Not
all of the high levels of language
clustering occurred in these three
metro areas, however. Table 5
13
The percentages of Tagalog speakers in
Alaska (2.3 percent), California (2.2 percent),
and Nevada (2.2 percent) were not statistically different from one another.
presents the metro or micro areas
in which 30 of the 39 detailed
languages had the largest number
of speakers.14
As Table 5 shows, some languages
were widely distributed across
areas, while other languages
had a large proportion of their
speakers in just one or two areas.
Of these languages, Yiddish is
an extreme example of language
concentration—76 percent of all
its speakers lived in the New York
metro area, with another 6 percent
in the Poughkeepsie metro area,
4 percent in the Miami metro area,
and 2 percent in the Los Angeles
metro area. This means that 88
percent of all Yiddish speakers
lived in just one of these four
metro areas. The remaining 12
14
The nine languages that are not on
this list are those languages that are aggregated or are groups of languages, such as
Other West Germanic languages or All Other
languages.
U.S. Census Bureau
Figure 4.
AK
Percentage of the Population Speaking a Language Other Than
English at Home Who Spoke English Less Than
“Very Well” by State: 2007
WA
MT
ND
VT
ME
NH
MN
OR
ID
MI
NV
RI
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
WV
KS
CT
PA
IA
NE
CA
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
MO
VA
DE
MD
KY
DC
NC
AZ
OK
NM
TN
AR
SC
MS
TX
AL
Less than 35.0 percent (11 states)
35.0 to 39.9 percent (8 states)
GA
40.0 to 44.9 percent (18 states)
LA
45.0 percent and higher (14 states)
FL
United States: 44.1 percent
HI
Note: Population 5 years and older. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error,
nonsampling error, and definitions, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
percent of Yiddish speakers were
spread throughout the rest of the
country.
In other similar cases, the two
or three largest concentrations
account for a large overall
proportion of the total number of
speakers. Polish, for example, had
31 percent of its speakers in the
Chicago metro area, with another
23 percent in the New York metro
area. Among Hmong speakers,
the Minneapolis-St. Paul (25
percent), Sacramento (13 percent),
and Fresno (12 percent) metro
areas accounted for half of all
speakers of this language in the
United States.15
By contrast, speakers of Laotian
were much more widely dispersed
15
The percentages of Hmong speakers
in Sacramento (13 percent) and in Fresno
(12 percent) were not statistically different
from each other.
U.S. Census Bureau
throughout the country. The
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Fresno,
Nashville, and Los Angeles metro
areas each had about 5 percent of
all Laotian speakers, leaving the
remaining 81 percent of speakers
spread throughout the rest of the
country.
This high degree of dispersion
was actually more common among
languages that have long been
a part of the nation’s history.
German, a language spoken by
many immigrants to the United
States over the last few centuries,
was highly dispersed. The four
largest concentrations in the
United States account for just 15
percent of all German speakers in
the country. Similar high levels of
dispersion are seen for languages
such as French (77 percent
outside the four largest metro
concentrations) and Scandinavian
languages (79 percent).
SUMMARY
This report provides illustrative
evidence of the continuing and
growing role of non-English
languages as part of the national
fabric. Fueled by both long-term
historic immigration patterns and
more recent ones, the language
diversity of the country has
increased over the past few
decades. As the nation continues
to be a destination for people
from other lands, this pattern of
language diversity will also likely
continue. Given the patterns of
location and relocation over time,
local areas may see specific or
diverse changes in the languages
spoken in any given locality.
11
12
Figures 5a–5d.
Percentage of the Population 5 Years and Older Speaking Specified Languages by State: 2007
AK
AK
5b. French1
5a. Spanish
WA
WA
MT
VT
ND
ME
NH
MT
MN
OR
ID
PA
IL
UT
IN
CO
CA
NJ
WV
KS
MO
MI
CT
OH
RI
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
CA
WV
KS
DC
MO
DC
NM
NC
TN
OK
AZ
AR
SC
MS
TX
AL
DE
MD
VA
KY
NC
AZ
CT
PA
IA
NE
NV
DE
MD
VA
KY
MA
NY
WI
WY
RI
IA
NE
ID
SD
MI
ME
NH
MN
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
NV
VT
ND
OR
NM
0.0 to 8.0 percent (37 states)
GA
TN
OK
AR
15.2 to 22.1 percent (3 states)
LA
SC
MS
8.1 to 15.1 percent (8 states)
TX
AL
0.0 to 1.0 percent (40 states)
GA
1.1 to 2.0 percent (7 states)
2.1 to 2.9 percent (2 states)
LA
22.2 to 29.3 percent (3 states)
3.0 to 4.0 percent (2 states)
FL
FL
Of all people 5 and older, 12.3 percent
Of all people 5 and older, 0.7 percent
spoke Spanish.
HI
spoke French.
HI
AK
AK
5c. German2
WA
5d. Slavic languages3
WA
MT
VT
ND
NH
ME
MT
MN
OR
ID
NJ
OH
IN
CO
WV
KS
MO
VA
KY
RI
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
CA
WV
KS
DC
MO
VA
KY
OK
NM
SC
MS
TX
NC
TN
AR
AL
GA
AZ
0.0 to 0.53 percent (35 states)
OK
NM
TN
AR
SC
MS
0.54 to 0.95 percent (13 states)
0.96 to 1.37 percent (1 state)
LA
TX
AL
GA
1.3 to 1.8 percent (2 states)
1.9 to 2.5 percent (2 states)
FL
Of all people 5 and older, 0.5 percent
U.S. Census Bureau
1
2
3
0.0 to 0.5 percent (39 states)
0.6 to 1.2 percent (8 states)
LA
1.38 to 1.80 percent (2 states)
FL
HI
DE
MD
DC
NC
AZ
CT
PA
IA
NE
NV
DE
MD
MA
MI
CT
PA
IL
ME
NY
WI
WY
RI
IA
NE
UT
CA
ID
SD
MI
NH
MN
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
NV
VT
ND
OR
spoke German.
Of all people 5 and older, 0.7 percent
HI
French includes French Creole.
German includes other West Germanic languages.
Slavic languages include Russian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, and other Slavic languages.
For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
spoke a Slavic language.
U.S. Census Bureau
Figures 5e–5h.
Percentage of the Population 5 Years and Older Speaking Specified Languages by State: 2007
AK
AK
5e. Korean
5f. Chinese
WA
WA
MT
VT
ND
ME
NH
MT
MN
OR
ID
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
WV
KS
MO
RI
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
CA
WV
KS
DC
MO
DC
NM
NC
TN
OK
AR
AZ
SC
MS
AL
DE
MD
VA
KY
NC
AZ
CT
PA
IA
NE
NV
DE
MD
VA
KY
MA
MI
CT
PA
TN
OK
NM
AR
0.0 to 0.3 percent (39 states)
GA
SC
MS
AL
0.0 to 0.7 percent (43 states)
GA
0.4 to 0.7 percent (7 states)
TX
0.8 to 1.4 percent (4 states)
TX
LA
LA
0.8 to 1.1 percent (4 states)
1.5 to 2.1 percent (2 states)
1.2 to 1.6 percent (1 state)
FL
2.2 to 2.8 percent (2 states)
FL
Of all people 5 and older, 0.4 percent
HI
Of all people 5 and older, 0.9 percent
HI
spoke Korean.
AK
spoke Chinese.
AK
5h. Tagalog
5g. Vietnamese
WA
WA
MT
VT
ND
NH
ME
MT
VT
ND
MN
OR
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
WV
KS
MO
VA
KY
RI
DE
MD
IL
UT
NJ
OH
IN
CO
CA
WV
KS
DC
OK
MO
VA
KY
NM
TX
AZ
SC
MS
AL
DE
MD
DC
NC
TN
AR
CT
PA
IA
NE
NV
NC
AZ
MA
MI
CT
PA
ME
NY
WI
WY
RI
IA
NE
ID
SD
MI
NV
CA
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
NH
MN
OR
ID
OK
NM
TN
AR
0.0 to 0.3 percent (38 states)
GA
0.4 to 0.6 percent (9 states)
TX
LA
FL
SC
MS
0.7 to 0.9 percent (3 states)
HI
ME
NY
WI
WY
RI
IA
NE
CA
ID
SD
MI
NH
MN
MA
NY
WI
SD
WY
NV
VT
ND
OR
1.1 to 2.2 percent (2 states)
2.3 to 3.3 percent (1 state)
FL
Of all people 5 and older, 0.4 percent
3.4 to 4.5 percent (1 state)
Of all people 5 and older, 0.5 percent
HI
Note: The data for these maps are available in Appendix Table A. The margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table B.
Both tables are available at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language/appendix.html>.
For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <www.census.gov./acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
0.0 to 1.0 percent (47 states)
GA
LA
1.0 to 1.4 percent (1 state)
spoke Vietnamese.
AL
spoke Tagalog.
13
Table 5.
Distribution of Speakers of Specific Non-English Languages Across Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Areas: 2007
(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/acs/www/)
Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas with the largest proportion of speakers of specified language1,2
Detailed
language
Spanish . . . . . . . . .
French . . . . . . . . . .
French Creole . . . .
Italian . . . . . . . . . . .
Portuguese . . . . . .
German . . . . . . . . .
Yiddish . . . . . . . . . .
Scandinavian . . . . .
Greek . . . . . . . . . . .
Russian . . . . . . . . .
Polish . . . . . . . . . . .
Serbo-Croatian . . .
Armenian . . . . . . . .
Persian. . . . . . . . . .
Gujarati . . . . . . . . .
Hindi . . . . . . . . . . .
Urdu . . . . . . . . . . . .
Chinese . . . . . . . . .
Japanese . . . . . . . .
Korean . . . . . . . . . .
Mon-Khmer,
Cambodian . . . . .
Hmong . . . . . . . . . .
Thai . . . . . . . . . . .
Laotian . . . . . . . . . .
Vietnamese . . . . . .
Tagalog . . . . . . . . .
Navajo . . . . . . . . . .
Hungarian . . . . . . .
Arabic . . . . . . . . . .
Hebrew . . . . . . . . .
Total
number of
speakers
of nonEnglish
languages
Percent
1st metro or
micro area1
Percent
2nd metro or
micro area2
Percent
3rd metro or
micro area
Percent
4th metro or
micro area
Percent
Percent
in all
other
areas
34,547,077
1,355,805
629,019
798,801
687,126
1,104,354
158,991
134,925
329,825
851,174
638,059
276,550
221,865
349,686
287,367
532,911
344,942
2,464,572
458,717
1,062,337
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Los Angeles
New York
Miami
New York
New York
New York
New York
Los Angeles
New York
New York
Chicago
New York
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
New York
New York
New York
New York
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
12.8
10.1
35.9
32.7
18.9
5.8
76.0
6.2
26.1
29.5
31.3
11.9
71.8
29.3
22.5
16.4
23.4
20.6
16.8
22.8
New York
Washington
New York
Boston
Providence
Chicago
Poughkeepsie
New York
Chicago
Los Angeles
New York
Chicago
New York
New York
Chicago
San Francisco
Chicago
Los Angeles
Honolulu, HI
New York
9.5
4.5
28.1
5.2
14.9
3.6
6.2
6.1
13.6
6.3
22.8
11.4
4.6
9.1
11.2
6.6
10.4
15.4
9.7
15.0
Miami
Boston
Boston
Chicago
Boston
Los Angeles
Miami
Seattle
Boston
Chicago
Hartford
St. Louis, MO-IL
Fresno, CA
Washington
Los Angeles
Chicago
Houston
San Francisco
New York
Washington
5.6
4.1
6.5
4.9
12.4
3.2
3.8
5.4
6.0
4.6
3.6
4.6
2.5
7.2
5.3
5.7
8.6
12.4
8.7
6.0
Chicago
Miami
Orlando
Philadelphia
Miami
Washington
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
Philadelphia
San Francisco
Detroit
Phoenix
Boston
San Francisco
Philadelphia
Los Angeles
Washington
San Jose
San Francisco
Chicago
4.3
4.1
4.2
3.9
7.4
2.1
2.2
3.4
3.1
3.8
3.3
4.5
2.4
6.1
4.9
5.0
7.4
4.9
4.9
4.2
67.8
77.2
25.2
53.2
46.4
85.4
11.9
79.0
51.2
55.9
39.0
67.6
18.6
48.2
56.2
66.3
50.1
46.7
60.0
52.0
185,056
181,069
144,405
149,045
1,207,004
1,480,429
170,717
91,297
767,319
213,576
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
100.0
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
Los Angeles
Minneapolis
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Farmington, NM
New York
New York
New York
18.5
25.2
15.7
5.1
17.0
17.5
16.5
20.1
14.6
38.8
Boston
Sacramento
New York
Fresno, CA
San Jose
San Francisco
Gallup, NM2
Los Angeles
Detroit
Los Angeles
9.3
13.4
6.3
4.6
9.3
11.0
12.0
5.8
11.2
11.6
Stockton, CA
Fresno, CA
San Francisco
Nashville
Houston
New York
Flagstaff, AZ
Cleveland
Los Angeles
Miami
5.1
Seattle
11.6
Milwaukee
4.8
Washington
4.5
Los Angeles
6.1
Dallas
9.1
San Diego
10.3 Albuquerque, NM
4.9
Chicago
7.0
Chicago
8.4
Boston
4.6
5.2
4.4
4.5
4.6
5.8
5.4
3.9
5.7
3.4
62.5
44.6
68.9
81.3
63.0
56.6
55.9
65.3
61.6
37.9
1
The Office of Management and Budget’s statistical area definitions (for metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas) are those issued by that
agency in December 2006. Each metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area with a state abbreviation after its name in the table indicates that the
full title of that area is displayed. Below are the full titles of metropolitan statistical areas that are abbreviated in the table:
Boston = Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH
Chicago = Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI
Cleveland = Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH
Dallas = Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Detroit = Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI
Hartford = Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
Houston = Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
Los Angeles = Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA
Miami = Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL
Milwaukee = Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
Minneapolis = Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
Nashville = Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
New York = New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA
Orlando = Orlando-Kissimmee, FL
Philadelphia = Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Phoenix = Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ
Poughkeepsie = Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY
Providence = Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, RI-MA
Sacramento = Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville, CA
San Diego = San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA
San Francisco = San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
San Jose = San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
Seattle = Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
Washington = Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
2
Gallup, NM, is the only micropolitan statistical area in this table. The other areas displayed in the table are metropolitan statistical areas.
Note: Margins of error for all estimates can be found in Appendix Table 5 at <www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/language
/appendix.html>. For more information on the ACS, see <www.census.gov/acs/www/>.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007 American Community Survey.
14
U.S. Census Bureau
SOURCE OF THE DATA
AND ACCURACY OF
THE ESTIMATES
The American
Community Survey
Many of the findings presented
in this report were based on the
American Community Survey (ACS)
data collected in 2007. These data
were based on the population living in either households or group
quarters (which include correctional
facilities, nursing homes, college dormitories, group homes,
and overnight shelters) that were
included in the ACS sample. The
U.S. Census Bureau is both the
sponsor and the collector of the
American Community Survey.
The 2007 ACS is based on a sample
of just under 3 million housing unit
addresses and a separate sample of
just under 200 thousand people living in group quarters. ACS figures
are estimates based on this sample
and approximate the actual figures
that would have been obtained by
interviewing the entire household
and group quarters populations
using the same methodology. The
estimates from the 2007 ACS sample may also differ from estimates
based on other survey samples of
housing units and group quarters
and the people living within those
housing units and group quarters.
The Decennial Census
Other findings presented in this
report that were not derived from
the 2007 ACS were collected from
previously published findings
based on data from each decennial
census conducted by the Census
Bureau since 1980. In general,
the decennial censuses collected
data from the population living in
households as well as those living
in group quarters such as those
described above.
Sampling and
Nonsampling Error
Sampling error occurs when the
characteristics of a sample are
measured instead of those of
the entire population (as from a
census). Note that sample-based
estimates will vary depending on
the particular sample selected from
the population, but all attempt to
approximate the actual figures.
Measures of the magnitude of
sampling error reflect the variation
in the estimates over all possible
samples that could have been
selected from the population using
the same sampling, data collection,
and processing methods.
Estimates of the magnitude of
sampling errors are provided in
the form of margins of error for all
key ACS estimates included in this
report. The Census Bureau recommends that data users incorporate
this information into their analyses, as sampling error in survey
estimates could impact the conclusions drawn from the results. All
comparative statements in this
report have undergone statistical
testing, and comparisons are significant at the 90 percent confidence
level unless noted otherwise. This
means the 90 percent confidence
interval for the difference between
the estimates being compared does
not include zero.
In addition to sampling error, nonsampling errors may be introduced
during any phase of data collection or processing. For example,
operations such as editing, reviewing, or keying data from questionnaires may introduce error into the
estimates. The primary source of
nonsampling error and the processes instituted to control error
in the 2007 ACS are described
in further detail in the 2007 ACS
Accuracy of the Data document
(see Web link below).
Title 13, U.S. Code, Section 9,
prohibits the Census Bureau from
publishing results from which the
U.S. Census Bureau
identity of an individual survey
respondent could be determined.
For more information on how the
Census Bureau protects the confidentiality of data, see the 2007 ACS
Accuracy of the Data document,
available at <www.census.gov
/acs/www/Downloads/ACS
/accuracy2007.pdf>.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Further information from the 2007
ACS is available from the American
FactFinder on the Census Bureau’s
Web site, at <http://factfinder
.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?
_lang=en>.
Measures of ACS quality—including
sample size and number of interviews, response and nonresponse
rates, coverage rates, and item
allocation rates—are available at
<www.census.gov/acs/www
/UseData/sse/>.
Additional information about
language use is available on the
Census Bureau’s Web site at
<www.census.gov/population
/www/socdemo/lang_use.html>.
CONTACT
For additional information on
these topics, please call
1-866-758-1060 (toll free) or visit
<www.census.gov>.
SUGGESTED CITATION
Shin, Hyon B. and Robert A.
Kominski. 2010. Language Use in
the United States: 2007, American
Community Survey Reports, ACS-12.
U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC.
USER COMMENTS
The Census Bureau welcomes the
comments and advice of users of
our data and reports. Please send
comments and suggestions to:
Chief, Housing and Household
Economic Statistics Division
U.S. Census Bureau
Washington, DC 20233-8500
15
APPENDIX A.
Language Questions Used in Decennial Censuses
2000: (Collected for all ages;
retained for persons 5 years old
and over)
Does this person speak a language
other than English at home?
What is this language?
How well does this person speak
English (very well, well, not well,
not at all)?
1990: (For persons 5 years old and
over)
Does this person speak a language
other than English at home?
What is this language?
How well does this person speak
English (very well, well, not well,
not at all)?
1980: (For persons 3 years old and
over; tabulated for 5 years old and
over)
Does this person speak a language
other than English at home?
What is this language?
How well does this person speak
English (very well, well, not well,
not at all)?
1970: (No age for question;
tabulations limited)
What language, other than English,
was spoken in this person’s
home when he was a child?
(Spanish, French, German, Other
[specify]
, None—English only)
1960: (For foreign-born persons)
What language was spoken in his
home before he came to the United
States?
1950: (Not asked)
1940: (For persons of all ages;
asked under the category of
“Mother Tongue [or Native
Language]”)
1910: (Mother tongue was
collected for all foreign-born
persons, to be written in with place
of birth; also collected for foreignborn parents. Specific instructions
on correct languages to write in
and a list of appropriate European
languages were provided to the
enumerator. Similar instructions
may have carried over to 1920.)
Whether able to speak English; or,
if not, give language spoken.
1900: (For all persons 10 years old
and over)
“Can speak English” was asked
after the two questions “Can read”
and “Can write.”
Language spoken at home in
earliest childhood.
1890: (For all persons 10 years old
and over)
1930: (For foreign-born persons;
asked under the category of
“Mother Tongue [or Native
Language] of Foreign Born”)
“Able to speak English. If not, the
language or dialect spoken” was
asked after the questions “Able to
Read” and “Able to Write.”
Language spoken in home before
coming to the United States.
1790–1880: (No evidence of
language questions or Englishability questions)
1920: (For foreign-born persons)
Place of birth and mother tongue of
person and each parent.
Note: The universe used for data collection may
not be the same as in tabulations. In some cases,
data were tabulated for foreign-born only or White
foreign-born only. Consult publications.
Whether able to speak English.
16
U.S. Census Bureau